New Delhi: Some volunteers met mayor Raja Iqbal Singh on Wednesday and offered their services at MCD’s Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres. They offered to help with food, medicines, identification of aggressive dogs and transporting the canines to ABC centres humanely. “Thirty dog lovers visited me and assured they would share contact details of another 500 people who would assist the municipal veterinary department in catching aggressive dogs. They have also requested permission to visit ABC centres with medicinal and nutritional offers. We will take their help,” said Singh. Jitender Kochar and Rosy Virk, animal lovers from Malviya Nagar and Alaknanda, stated that they want to work to minimise human-dog confrontations. “We are not against catching attacking dogs and taking them to correction centres. But there is a need to understand the reason for their aggressive behaviour. We will also ensure that these dogs are not hurt when they are being caught,” said Virk. The mayor said that the veterinary department had taken in 150 dogs from various localities by Tuesday evening, with the focus on dogs identified as aggressive following the Supreme Court ordering civic authorities to capture and relocate the city’s community dogs. “In our 12 zones, we have formed 25 teams to catch dogs. We will accelerate the process to catch diseased and attacking dogs based on residents’ complaints,” Singh said. “MCD has decided to use the existing 20 ABC centres as permanent shelters for these dogs.” The civic body is, however, awaiting the court’s order for clarity on steps to be taken after catching the dogs. “ABC Rules allow keeping aggressive dogs only for 10 days for observation. There is no clarity on permanently sheltering them,” said an MCD official. MCD estimates a cost of at least Rs 110 per dog per day to hold one dog. It is discussing sites where permanent shelters can be erected, such as at a 75-acre site at Ghogha, at the Dwarka ABC Centre and in Masoodpur. The civic body also decided that the 311 app and 155305 helpline would continue to be used for dog complaints, with no plan for a separate dog-bite helpline number right now. On Wednesday, the councillors emphasised the need for a dog census so that immunisation and sterilisation could be implemented effectively. From next week, the sub-committee formed to manage street canines will also start visiting the ABC centres and check their arrangements. “We learnt that some ABC centres are not operational, and we will verify the reasons for that. In a later phase, activists can be involved during visits to these facilities,” said Yogesh Verma, councillor from Keshavpuram and member of the sub-committee. Officials, however, stated that instead of a dog census, they might go for microchipping street dogs as these would mitigate chances of error and provide detailed information about which NGO sterilised and immunised the dogs and on which date. “The workers will be provided with a handheld device for verifying these chips. Each device can be expected to cost Rs 4,000-5,000,” said an MCD official.
